Xpadorians (eks•pä•dôr′ē•ənz) n. Expats in Ecuador

Morning Update – Friday, October 21, 2011

TV ALERT – Tonight’s the encore showing of the Manta episode of HGTV House Hunters International. The show airs at 10:00 p.m. eastern time and repeats at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday. Here in California on DirecTV the show starts at 7:00 p.m. and again at 10:00 p.m. Check your local listings. At first I thought that Garrett Parker was a professional surfer looking for a place on the beach. With a title like “Surf’s Up” and his sun streaked hair… Nope, he has lived his whole life in Alaska and was looking to purchase investment property. And how did he come to choose Manta, Ecuador? Turns out his father and real estate agent Richard Parker of Ecuadorean Coastal Properties lives there.

Clarke and Brenda…Next Stage – First stop in Morocco is Tangier, described by Clarke as an ancient neglected touristy border town filled with hustlers. They hired their own hustler/guide to take them back to the Medina and famous Casbah.

Construction Projects in Ecuador – Barb’s request for a fireplace in the guesthouse has left Ray with a puzzle. He doesn’t want to add sugar to the mortar mix (it’s going to be used too often for that) and the only lime available is for agricultural purposes.

Cuenca Chronicles – Just one typical day in Cuenca reminds Sharon how many new friends they have made since they first moved there five months ago. There are still some adjustments to be made but she feels that they are doing quite well.

Nancy and Chuck – A feast for the eyes as the Watsons arrive in Tangiers on their big market day. While visiting the Kasbah they were entertained by a man and his bag of snakes. They travel in twos and get back together later with the Greens to compare notes (and spelling.)

Smiles Away – Vickie transports us to Japan and the crazy way they do things over there. The place is remarkably clean but there are no public trashcans anywhere.